3 mins read

After helping the US win the Cold War, the all-you-can-eat buffet is fading. Thanks, COVID

LAS VEGAS | On a cool fall evening after the end of World War II, Las Vegas watched “officialdom and ‘cafe society’ turn out for the opening of America’s first all-you-can-eat buffet,” a local paper wrote. It was a big night in a small town that dreamed of hungry visitors. The glazed ham and prime […]

5 mins read

This Stars and Stripes Pie is designed to wow on the Fourth of July

For the Stars and Stripes Pie in my cookbook, “50 Pies, 50 States,” I wanted something that would be a showstopper at any Fourth of July barbecue. I got fancy, using foil as a divider when filling the pie to mimic the color blocking of the flag. I used two fillings — strawberry and blueberry […]

5 mins read

For a soothing cup of herbal tea, here’s how to grow and prepare your own herbs

Drink a fragrant cup of herbal tea, and the intoxicating scent of steeped herbs might calm your mind before you even take a sip. Even better is when they come from your own backyard herb garden. Mine includes several ingredients for my daily cup, and they’re all easy to grow and prepare. Herbal teas are […]

6 mins read

GO GLOBAL — Vacation across the planet for free on one Saturday afternoon in Aurora

AURORA | Aurora’s signature multicultural celebration will return June 13, bringing expanded offerings of international food, music, dance and cultural traditions to the city’s Municipal Center Great Lawn. Now in its 13th year, Aurora Fest is a free, family-friendly event that highlights the diversity of one of Colorado’s most multicultural communities. Organizers say the festival […]

4 mins read

How to grill vegetables and toss them in Isaac Toups’ bacon vinaigrette

Want to make your vegetables taste better and have your friends love you? Char the hell out of some on the grill and then toss them in a bacon vinaigrette, using this recipe from my cookbook “Chasing the Gator: Isaac Toups and the New Cajun Cooking.” These are vegetables so unhealthy a Cajun might actually […]

6 mins read

Fishermen prepared for the longest red snapper season in recent memory. A court order stopped it

ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. | Miles from shore, Chris Kemp pumps and reels as he battles a fish 150 feet below. Eventually, it gives up, and the 10-pound red snapper is hauled aboard the Jodie Lynn II. There’s barely time to rejoice. As Kemp raises his trophy for a picture, the charter boat’s captain rushes over […]

4 mins read

Once the preserve of elite chefs, sushi-making can be fun

TOKYO | No food says Japan more than sushi. But few people make it themselves, even Japanese. The art of making sushi traditionally meant decades-long training to become a master. But times are changing. Now, just about anyone can enjoy it. “There is no sushi that tastes better than the ones you make yourself,” said […]

2 mins read

Ayesha Curry’s Cast-Iron ‘Fruit Cake’ is foolproof when dessert time is tight

While I’m not sure how or when it started, there is no denying that I have an extremely mean sweet tooth. It shows up all the time in the way I cook savory food — but it goes bananas when I get to dessert. None of this means that I need my sweets to be […]

5 mins read

A proposed additive ban could change New York’s pizza and bagels, some say for the better

NEW YORK | After more than a decade of mixing and kneading dough in his family’s Brooklyn pizzeria, Salvatore Lo Duca recently made a distressing discovery: A key component of their thin-crust pies, bromated flour, contained a suspected carcinogen already banned in much of the world. So, in the back kitchen of Lo Duca Pizza, […]

2 mins read

Limoncello, coconut oil and tequila combine for a margarita with tropical notes

The classic margarita from my book “Freezer Door Cocktails” calls for four things — tequila, orange liqueur, sugar and lime. This variation, inspired by a cocktail at Bitter & Twisted in Phoenix, keeps the key flavors, but gets to the finish line a little differently. Italian limoncello — a sweet, boldly lemony Italian liqueur — […]